ZIMBABWE:
not what I expected, but I don’t have words to say what I expected.
Bulawayo is a city full of beauty and brokenness.
There are people all over the street, searching desperately for something to bring them happiness.
With a 95% unemployment rate, drugs and alcohol fill the streets and take up the space in peoples’ lives that the Lord could fill i f t h e y o n l y k n e w what they are looking for.
My heart crumbles at the sight of kids and adults alike, making a street corner or the side of a building their pillow for the night.
It crumbles at the little girl who can’t be older than 7, whose lip is completely covered in open wounds due to either HIV or AIDS (due to s e x u a l a b u s e or contracted at birth).
My heart cringes with sadness at the number of girls who are brought into a safe home after being trafficked, or sexually abused.
It cringes even more at the number of women and children who haven’t been r e s c u e d.
BUT, my heart burst with joy knowing that the Lord holds them in His hand, calls them b e l o v e d, and has the power to restore their brokenness for His glory.
I wonder why bad things happen to people who haven’t been given a chance to S H I N E
I wonder “why not me instead of them?”
Why was I born and raised in America, land of the free home of the brave, and Why were they born and raised in Zim, land of the captive home of pain?
Why do I get shiny n e w s h o e s and a shirt with each thread in tact and they get shoes with h o l e s, that don’t fit, and a shirt just hanging by a thread?
Why do I get a home with more than four walls and they get a room made from the mud beneath their feet?
When I put myself in their shoes, it would be easy to question
“is God still good?”
Even through the bad and the ugly of your life, d o y o u s t i l l b e l i e v e
He is good?
I asked one of my kids at youth tonight “Why do you keep believing in God?”
He said, “I believe in God because He gave me life, and I woke up today.”
Another one, when asked the same question, said “I keep believing because to me He is my F A T H E R …my dad doesn’t act like my father, b u t G o d takes his place.”
He is still good because no matter the circumstance we go through, each day that we wake up, He has given us life and new mercies; another chance to live out the purpose for which we were created.
He is still good because He is the only one in the universe who s a c r i f i c e d his own son for YOU, and for me.
He is still good because He is our daily bread, the only thing we need in this world. The only one that can give you exactly what you need to sustain you for another day.
He is still SO SO SO good.
